Find Your Voice, Change Your Life #165 Authenticity Begins Where Performance Ends
Jul 10, 2025
In a heartfelt conversation, Jonathan Reynolds, founder and CEO of Mindful Life, Mindful Work, shares insights from decades of mindfulness training. He recounts his small-town upbringing, which stifled his voice but sparked a desire for authenticity. Jonathan emphasizes the importance of deep listening and connecting to one's inner truth. He discusses how true self-expression stems from genuine experience rather than mere performance, and encourages listeners to explore their identity through mindfulness and reflective practices.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Small-Town Roots Shaped His Voice
- Jonathan grew up in a small Northeast Wisconsin town with traditional family roles and limited space for self-expression.
- He coped by rebelling in high school and using drinking and partying to numb parts of himself that felt constrained.
Morning Minutes Became Early Meditation
- Jonathan describes early self-soothing habits like quietly sitting on his bed to create calm before school.
- Those small practices foreshadowed his lifelong turn toward mindfulness and interior spaciousness.
Ask Who You Are, Beyond Labels
- Jonathan turned the question "Who are you?" into a central inquiry focused on awareness rather than labels.
- That question shifted him from identity by description to identity as experiential presence.
